The diablo's in the details

The trials and tribulations of Blizzard’s game Diablo III launch this week has raised the ire of gamers who, after having bought their new game, were prevented from playing due to server errors.

In my own social circles there were interesting discussions on the efficacy of the online techniques chosen by Blizzard, and the changing nature of what a "single player" game is.

For the record, I haven’t played any of the renowned Diablo series so I can’t really claim to have any skin in the game (pun intended).

The problems that digital publishers are trying to solve are complex and surrounded by a lot of passionate rhetoric. The right to be identified as the creator of a work and be rewarded for it, digital or otherwise is a basic norm of our modern society. Where passions flare is the line at which the method of control of content is justifiable.

At the moment a large and successful digital entertainment publisher is evolving the technology and business models around what were once offline and individual experiences, and move them into a full online environment.

By offline experiences I mean that unless you were explicitly engaging in some form of networked play, your ability to consume the content (a game in this case) was unaffected by the presence or absence of the manufacturer/publisher in the consumption.

The classic "retail experience" had a set of discrete moments of limited interactions between the seller and buyer. A good experience was one where both parties concluded the transaction satisfactorily, created a positive impression and essentially got out of each other's way.

Over the last ten years digital distribution has had an amazing cultural impact. The ability for the consumer to access new content, be exposed to new ideas, communities and markets has been mostly positive.

Personally, most of my information and entertainment needs are fulfilled digitally these days and I wouldn’t go back. Convenience and choice are key to my preference of things digital.

The more we move into the cloud and have our various entertainment choices contained as part of a bundle of service contracts, the more I am feeling like I am a renter trying to stay in the goodwill of my landlord.

The notion of paying for and enjoying a good or service without needing to seek permission from, be accounted for, or be limited by the provider is at best becoming quaint and at worst being labelled a thieving communist conspiracy nut job.

In Blizzard’s case there is no dark secret where they stand, they want to protect their investment against piracy, ensure the integrity of their online community from cheaters and malicious content, retain complete control of any in-game commerce and limit third parties from creating unlicensed derivative products. I don’t think that this is a hard sell or unreasonable expectation for boardroom executives.

The challenge to us as IT professionals as we create the different platforms that support these control initiatives is that there are many more failures than there are successes to guide us.

The technical means by which we can keep reinventing different schemes of rights management is only limited by our imagination. The effectiveness is really only discovered in hindsight and the track record is not great. This means more often than not we will create complex systems which have unintended consequences. How best to support the corporate objectives without sacrificing maximum utility to our users?

Even a fully informed individual that purchases our software knowing that some form of rights management is going to be used that requires an internet connection is still going to have to wonder what is going on when their legitimately purchased copy running on a fully connected machine isn’t delivering what was promised to them on the box. Suddenly abstract discussions of rights management and business models take on a personal reality.

My interest isn’t in the game itself but in the techniques used and when a serious player like Blizzard tries something, other publishers should be taking notice. For better or worse the control methods used in Diablo III will have to prove themselves over time.

To go back to the retail model earlier, when I exited the store with my product and if all things went well I left the publisher at my front door, whether it be a book, music, movie or game.

The always-connected digital equivalent is inviting publishers into the lounge room and asking them to operate the remote control.

We have to be careful to not to design systems that make our customers feel powerless in the transaction.